Applying Industry 4.0 technologies in the COVID–19 sustainable chains

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is 1) to investigate the effects on the crucial Industry 4.0 technological innovations that interact between the real and virtual worlds and that are applied in the sustainable supply chain process; 2) to contribute to the identification of the opportunities, the challenges and the gaps that will support the new research study developments and 3) to analyze the impact of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators of the sustainable supply chain performance in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachThis research is performed through a bibliographic review in the electronic databases of the Emerald Insight, the Scopus and the Web of Science, considering the main scientific publications on the subject.FindingsThe bibliographic search results in 526 articles, followed by two sequential filters for deleting the duplicate articles (resulting in 487 articles) and for selecting the most relevant articles (resulting in 150 articles).Practical implicationsThis article identifies the opportunities and the challenges focused on the emerging Industry 4.0 theme. The opportunities can contribute to the sustainable performance of the supply chains and their territories. The Industry 4.0 can also generate challenges like the social inequalities related to the position of the man in the labor market by replacing the human workforce with the machines. Therefore, the man-machine relationship in the Industry 4.0 era is analyzed as a gap in the literature. Therefore, as a way to fill this gap, the authors of this article suggest the exploration of the research focused on the Society 5.0. Also known as “super-smart society,” this recent theme appeared in Japan in April 2016. According to Fukuda (2020), in addition to the focus on the technological development, the Society 5.0 also aims at the quality of life and the social challenge resolutions.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the analysis of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the sustainable supply chain performance. It addresses the impacts of the Industry 4.0 technologies applied to the supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it analyzes the research gaps and limitations found in the literature. The result of this study can add value and stimulate new research studies related to the application of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the supply chain sustainable performance. It can encourage the studies related to the COVID-19 impacts on the sustainable supply chains, and it can promote the research development on the relationship among the man, the machine and the labor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The COVID-19 pandemic, social sustainability and global supply chain resilience: a review

“…This allows companies to effectively collaborate and connect with their supply chain network partners that in turn improves end-to-end visibility, agility, optimization and overall business competitiveness. Technological advancements and innovations, such as sensors and Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, autonomous robots and control systems, machine learning and blockchains are key enabling ingredients for building effective and high performing DSNs (Laaper and Mussomeli, 2017;McKenzie, 2020;Sinha et al, 2020;van Hoek, 2020) as well as a key facilitator for sustainable supply chain performance (Acioli et al, 2021).…”

The implications of Industry 4.0 on supply chains amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

“…Table 3 illustrates the role of the emerging technologies in reviving supply chains that favour long-term supply chain performance. The key approaches of the supply chains include real-time information and transparency to manage customer demand effectively, 1,4 improved interaction with suppliers and vendors, 10,52 and optimising the supply chain to satisfy the needs of the company. 40,53 A supply network integrated with emerging technologies enables companies to build faster, flexible, accurate, and efficient supply chains.…”

“…22 These technologies will improve industrial processes across the horizontal value chain, including engineering, material utilisation, supply chain, and product life cycle management, 33,60,86 along with opportunities such as improvements in operations, energy conservation, and logistic support. 17,19,87 Productive competency, 23,48 waste reduction, 1,17 inventory management, 19,25 information sharing with supply chain members, 54,55 tracking and tracing warehouse inventory, 29,88 and logistics information 60 are guaranteed by Industry 4.0 technologies. 1,21,22 Via data sharing, these technologies facilitate a decrease in local and international bulk cargo transit, delivery mistakes, and needless waiting periods, as well as the prevention of products being damaged.…”

“…17,19,87 Productive competency, 23,48 waste reduction, 1,17 inventory management, 19,25 information sharing with supply chain members, 54,55 tracking and tracing warehouse inventory, 29,88 and logistics information 60 are guaranteed by Industry 4.0 technologies. 1,21,22 Via data sharing, these technologies facilitate a decrease in local and international bulk cargo transit, delivery mistakes, and needless waiting periods, as well as the prevention of products being damaged. 23,48 The review indicates that Industry 4.0 technologies contribute to improving operations management 4,5,7 and manufacturing processes creating customized products.…”

“…Incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies has become a strategic imperative for supply chains to improve their competitiveness in the market. 1,4 These technologies play a significant role in optimizing the performance of supply chain operations for better results. 6 Many academics believe that Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Internet of Things, 5,9,37 big data, 14,15,21,38 cloud computing, 22,23 additive manufacturing, 48,60 and blockchain, 17,19,20 can encourage supply chains in times of crisis, and they call for more research in this area.…”